Canadian manufacturing has been a drag on the economy for
more than two years, with the value of monthly sales still below
2011’s post-recession highs. About 36,000 people in the world’s
11th-largest economy have lost manufacturing jobs since the
start of 2013, even as global growth accelerated and the
Canadian dollar weakened.

“We continue to expect that underlying conditions,
including a strengthening in the U.S. economy and a weaker
Canadian dollar, will support stronger manufacturing sales in
the near term,” Nathan Janzen, an economist in Toronto at RBC
Capital Markets, said in a report to clients.

Inventory Gains

January’s higher sales volumes and “outsized” inventory
accumulation suggests the manufacturing component of gross
domestic product may have expanded at an almost 2 percent pace
in January, Janzen said in the report. Statistics Canada is due
to report GDP data on March 31.

Canada’s dollar is down 7.5 percent versus its U.S.
counterpart over the past 12 months. It was little changed at
C$1.1050 at 11:13 a.m. in Toronto.

Sales in the primary metal industry rose 8 percent in
January, in part due to higher prices, the agency said. Food
producers saw sales rise 2.7 percent, while aerospace shipments
were up 3.3 percent. Sales were up in 12 of 21 industries
tracked by Statistics Canada, accounting for about 46 percent in
manufacturing shipments, including gains for chemical producers
and computer and electronic product manufacturers.